Fighting the Urge

On March 25, a four-year-old boy drowned in the Omni 41 Health & Fitness Connection, Schererville, Ind., pool. By any account, this was a tragic event. As a parent of a four-year-old myself, I can’t imagine the grief his parents must be suffering as they attempt to come to grips with what happened.

However, it appears these victims — the boy and those who grieve him — are not satisfactory. Some people are looking for even more victims.

A few articles were written about the drowning, and many news outlets allow comments on their stories. One commenter, posting in response to the Post-Tribune article about the boy’s death, demands that the identities of the four responsible supervisors and counselors be revealed. One can only imagine the commenter believes these people should be exposed so they can be publicly punished in some way, suffer more than the unimaginable guilt and regret they must already feel.

Like those calling for the greedy AIG employees’ heads, eager to inflict injury in the mistaken belief that it will in some way assuage the pain they feel themselves, this commenter is misguided. He is angry, and he hurts for this boy and for those who mourn him.

I can understand this feeling, this urge to pull others down into our black hole so we do not suffer alone. But now more than ever, while each of us struggles to manage our own challenges and unique wounds, we cannot afford to give in to it.

Kids: Healthy or Unhealthy?

Are kids today healthy or unhealthy? I guess it depends on how you look at it.

On November 25, The Press-Enterprise published two stories on the topic. The first praised Riverside, Calif., county’s students for scoring better than the state average on the 2008 California Physical Fitness Test. The annual test rates the percentage of children who score within the Healthy Fitness Zone, a measure of reasonable levels of fitness that can be achieved in six areas: aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength and endurance, trunk strength and flexibility, upper-body strength and endurance, and flexibility. Overall, said the article’s author, Riverside County fifth- and seventh-graders did slightly better than the state average.

The second story, however, criticized the county’s students for having made only small gains in physical fitness, with two in three children still not meeting fitness standards. This, despite the fact that some schools have made fitness a priority. One in particular, Eisenhower High School in Rialto, “rivals most fitness clubs in the variety and number of exercise classes it offers,” says the article’s authors.

The reality is that only one in three students in California meet the state’s basic physical fitness requirements, which is consistent with the national average. Healthy or unhealthy? No matter how it’s reported, the answer is definitely “unhealthy”!

What are we going to do about it? We need to ensure that kids get the information they need to make healthy choices, and that they are pushed into programs that improve their fitness levels. An example of this is an after-school program held at six elementary schools in Marion, Ga. Hosted by the Boys & Girls Club of Marion, the program is available from the end of the school day until 6 or 7 p.m., depending on the school. Rather than “riding the bus home to do nothing,” the students get homework help and tips on nutritious eating and fitness.

This is an idea that all fitness centers could capitalize on. How about yours? It’s a matter of making our nation’s kids healthy.

Child's Play

With the Centers for Disease Control estimating that between six and 19 percent of children are overweight, and an additional 15 percent at risk for becoming obese, I think we need to ask ourselves: What can the fitness industry really do to make a difference?

I guess the first thing we have to understand is, “What is the problem?” Why are so many kids fat? Of course, discussion about this has been going on for years; the biggest culprits appear to be junk food, entertainment options that cause kids to sit for hours and hours, and school funds cuts, which have resulted in the elimination of physical education programs.

It’s been a while, but I do remember being a kid. My friends and I had junk food and ate it, albeit our junk was more in the form of sugar rather than in fat; in fact, our almost daily outing after school was to the local drugstore to purchase our favorite candy, and then proceed to eat it -- all. And, at meals, our parents made us eat everything on our plates. As for entertainment, we didn’t have all of the options that kids have now, but we did have music and television, and even “back then,” those were distractions from being outdoors with our friends -- or, in other words, being active. And those P.E. programs? They were no incentive to exercise at all. Almost every kid I knew hated P.E.; it was punishment. Yet, still, the percentage of children back then who were obese comes nowhere close to what that percentage is today.

So, why are kids so fat today? Well, many say that kids just don’t partake in as much of the good, old-fashioned fun that children used to crave. The kind that happens after school and on weekends when kids and their friends get together and roughhouse, grab the bikes and head to another friend’s to get a pick-up game together, or head down to the river, lake or beach to check out the scene. It’s not that these options don’t exist anymore. I still see kids in my neighborhood outside riding their skateboards, chasing each other around, playing basketball, etc. It’s just that, I believe, there seems to be a different perception of what is “fun.” The newer entertainment options have made good, old-fashioned fun seem sort of “hum-drum.”

The question is whether the new facilities geared specifically toward kids’ fitness that are springing up across the country are what this population needs to stave off the obesity crisis. The facilities I am talking about include those such as Volt Fitness and Intelligent Sports’ Youth Fitness Centers.

Volt Fitness is a new video arcade/gym concept in Glen Rock, N.J., which was created by a pediatrician and former fitness director, and combines circuit training machines with video games. They’re marketing the concept to pre-teens and teens who pay $10 to $15 an hour to “work up a sweat while playing video games that require them to ride an exercise bike, work out on a rowing machine or engage in a simulated boxing match.” The idea, apparently, is “to get the kids moving so that they will have a change in mind-set -- a paradigm shift in how they view exercise.”

Intelligent Sports’ Youth Fitness Centers in Upland, Calif., provides youth and family fitness equipment and programs “to allow kids to grow athletically and intellectually, and to fight childhood obesity.” The facilities, which are membership-based, are designed for kids and include exercise equipment that is interactive with several popular video game titles from PlayStation and Xbox.

Interesting concept for a whole new type of fitness facility market, but is it just a new business model that will attract only active youth? Or, could it succeed in having an effect on the child obesity epidemic?

Obesity: A Matter of National Security

We all know that obesity in the U.S. is contributing to a host of medical problems and rising healthcare costs. However, what most fitness professionals don’t realize is that obesity can also affect our nation’s security.

Speaking at a press conference at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona warned that America’s obesity epidemic is a national security problem, as the more than 9 million overweight and obese children in the country threaten to shrink the pool of eligible service men and women. Carmona said that obesity “undermines the strength of our nation.”

The rapidly growing population of overweight, obese and physically unfit children is starting to affect the military, Carmona said. Obesity is one of the most common reasons service men and women cannot fully perform their duties. Carmona called obesity “the terror within.”

These are strong words, but they shouldn’t stop there. If obesity is affecting the military, it must also be affecting the police, emergency medical personnel, firefighters and the many first responders that every community relies on. People may be sick of hearing about the “obesity epidemic,” but it could very well affect you directly if you need medical assistance in the future and you don’t get it in time because your community lacks enough qualified people to fill those jobs.

Currently, we can see what effect the shortage of military personnel is having on our troops in the Middle East (i.e., repeat tours of duty). Imagine, then, what the future military will look like if it is stretched even thinner because young men and women are too overweight to qualify for service.

The list of problems associated with obesity goes on and on. And, the longer we let it go on, the worse things will become. The problem with overweight children may currently be a problem for their parents and healthcare professionals, but it will soon become a problem for everyone.

The Childhood Obesity Fight Is Ours

For how long, exactly, are we going to keep saying that a healthy lifestyle starts in the home? Before we realize, that is, that no matter how much and how long we say it, it isn’t going to happen. It’s unfortunate, but most parents aren’t helping their kids lead healthful lifestyles — not by example, anyway — and neither are the schools, so it’s up to fitness professionals to step in and do it for them.

Our publication has been talking about the need and opportunity to provide youth fitness programs at facilities for years, and I know many are doing so (see the stories on youth fitness on the FM website). But we haven’t yet scratched the surface of what needs to be done. Recently, a story appeared on the MSNBC website titled Private gym for teens aims to address obesity. It’s a great concept for a gym, especially in light of the fact that IHRSA reports that, since 2005, approximately 1 million kids ages six to 17 have worked out with personal trainers. Obviously, there is a desire by kids to get healthy. Unfortunately, even though this facility, Overtime Fitness, has been open for close to a year, it still isn’t turning a profit, and it is now opening its doors to adults to supplement its revenue stream.

What’s even more unfortunate is the criticism these types of facilities are receiving from some professions and organizations. For instance, the Overtime facility, once a virtual reality flight simulation center, features video games that inspire movement, such as boxing, dancing, jumping and bike riding. But critics contend that using video games “won’t necessarily compel kids to keep exercising as they grow up.” I say, get them moving, let them see what it’s like to be healthy, rather than obese and lazy. My guess is, in the long run, that’s the way they’re going to want to stay.

Another critic, Ann Cotten, director of the Schaefer Center for Public Policy at the University of Baltimore, doesn’t think it’s fair that kids who have money should be able to have a facility to work out in, while low-income teens “who are at highest risk of obesity, diabetes, asthma and other health problems” can’t afford it. Hey, we have to start somewhere! Sure, it would be great to have public- and private-funded facilities where all teens could benefit. But, let’s look at the business reality here. To their credit, the managers of Overtime are asking Google Inc. and other local businesses to fund scholarships, and the facility is waving the $109 fee this summer.

I hope this facility, and others like it, make it. And, I hope that those people who criticize these efforts to help fight the youth obesity epidemic are proved wrong, and thus silenced. If your facility offers youth fitness opportunities, I commend you for stepping up to the plate, and hope to hear what you’re doing so others may follow suit.